29 | THE FIRST EVENT

The surge of power hits me full-force. The oppressive, invasive, terror-inducing invasion punctures the thin protection Blue had wrapped around us and I feel her in my head once again. Only, this time it doesn’t hurt. Not in the same way as before. It’s more like itching powder has been sprinkled in my brain and the sound of nails against a chalkboard rings in my ears.

My whole body flinches and twitches against the torture as I feel the anxious, scrambling of her rifling through my head- *Wait*.

I can feel her emotions now, as if Blue’s ability as a Sensor has given me the tools I need to sense it myself. Eyre’s scared, the all-too-familiar sensation of an animal being backed into a corner floods around me. She needs something, she’s looking for some*one*- someone so important to her it’s like she’s literally missing a piece of herself.

On instinct, I mentally push back, push with Blue’s energy still clinging to me.

*Eaton*. She wants to know where her twin, Eaton, is. He’s always here to help her through the spikes of power. She can’t understand why he’d suddenly leave her here, all alone, to deal with this all-consuming force by herself. She’s afraid he’s been abducted or worse. It’s the only thing she can think of. The only reason the one person she trusts to have her back wouldn’t be here when she needs him the most.

“Where is he?” Eyre screams - both aloud and in my head. Her voice booming louder than it should, reverberating in my bones and making my innards wobble on a cellular level. A spike of nausea hits me, then the clash of pain, and the world gets foggy for a second. Blue’s power ripples over me, through me, in the knick of time. And I take a steadying breath as I stand tall in front of the terrifying Elemental.

“I don’t know. But we can help you find him.” I offer in as calm of a voice as I can, trying to seem as benign as possible. Her impossibly bottomless eyes lock on me, the sheer force of her glare soul-searing - and not in the good way. I feel exposed under that gaze, hollowed out with everything that makes me *me* on the floor between us. A few beats tick by, the silence in the room palpable and thick, but not nearly as oppressive as it had been a second before.

“You don’t know.” Eyre whispers, a frown creasing her forehead and a look of defeat crumpling her terrifying expression into one of utter fear and loss. And then anger twists through the teen’s face and washes the all-too-human face into something even more horrifying than it had been a minute ago. “Get out of my head!” Her head turns towards Blue so quickly I’m surprised it’s still on her shoulders. “You have no right-” She seethes at him, as he glares back at her, his eyes the liquid silvery-glow as he stays audibly silent.

Sweat’s dripping from his forehead, soaking into his shirt and his body’s practically vibrating with all the energy he’s exerting. *He’s getting tired*. I realize, unsure just how much longer he can keep up the shield around me and Zoe. *We need to move this along or we’ll all be useless*.

“Eyre,” I call her name softly, trying for the same calm and gentle tone I would use on any frightened animal. “Just tell us how we can help. You’re hurting people.” I tell her, gesturing to the still-crouched forms of her parents between us. The Elementals are in the exact same position, on their knees, faces skyward and twisted in pain. I think I can even see a little blood dripping from their noses and pooling in their ears. They’re not holding up so well anymore.

Eyre looks down at her parents, the blackness in her eyes flickering as she stares at them - as if seeing them for the first time. I see her breath hitch, coming in short spurts as reality finally comes through the veil of power.

“No. No. I-I… I need Eaton.” Eyre whispers brokenly, her arms wrapping tight around herself and the girl pressing against the far wall. “I need E.” She closes her eyes tightly, forehead creasing. The webbing starts spreading across her cheekbones, coating the rest of her face like the demented branches of a tree. The bubble of Blue’s power around us suddenly tightens and my mate falls to one knee beside me, planting one hand on said knee for support. His whole body sways for a moment and he’s bowing his head under the pressure.

*This has to stop. I can’t keep this up, Red*. Blue’s voice groans in my head. I fight the initial shiver that tries to over-take me as I get a tiny taste of the crushing weight around him.

*You’re going to need to help her parents. I’m going to get them closer to you. When you have them close enough, take her down. See if they can bind her*. I think back to him, pushing the thoughts over to his part of the bond, struggling to get them across as his mind’s flooded with more sensory. *Blue*-

*I got it. I don’t like it. But I got it*. Blue replies sharply. *Try to make it fast. The second you leave my radius*- I won’t be able to extend it. An intense worry follows his words and a fierce, protectiveness that almost suffocates me. I don’t reply as I carefully tense my body and summon what strength I can for my next move.

Eyre’s sobbing now, the high-pitched sound wavering from her lips and almost crippling me. I grit my teeth against the effect and try to block out the sound as I launch my body at her parents. Energy hums over my skin as I leave Blue’s radius and burst into the completely unsheltered air of the room. There’s a second where I’m sure I black out from the sheer weight of it, my ears start ringing with the deafening cry of Eyre’s sobs. Her whole body begins to glow.

I’m running out of time!

Every step is a fight, but I’m using my vampire speed and Wolven strength to bolster my body. Still, even with that, I only just manage to cross the few feet between me and the two Cai’s. I grip their shoulders and launch them back, pushing the, with as much strength as I can put into my arms. The two tumble backwards and I have just enough time to see them knock into Blue before my body hits the ground.

I can’t breathe. My head’s being melted - either by Eyre’s power of her voice, I’m not even sure - and the pressure from her energy feels like it’s trying to turn my body into a diamond. Compressing waves shake through me, my bones are audibly groaning and I can even feel them slowly starting to fracture in me. I open my mouth to scream, but there’s no air. No breath in me. The taste of blood starts to choke me a second later, my whole body quivering as the slow death of drowning on my own blood tries to do me in. A thick curtain of red cloaks my eyes and I can suddenly feel something vibrating beneath my fingertips.

Just out of reach - yet all around me - the chords of time hum their silent song as my ears pop and I loose all the auditory function of my brain. My fingers stretch out, catching on the closest chords and gripping them tight. My remaining strength is spent on gripping the invisible thing as time shudders to a crawl around me. Suddenly, I feel like I’m floating - still unable to breathe - but now it’s like I don’t need to.

I see Eyre’s body burning iridescently, as if she’s become the sun. Her whole body hovering in mid air, rolled in a tight ball. Something black sticks out on her neck.

The shuddering of the ground beneath me is the only indication I really get before the mark solidifies into an inch-thick black band. Power is suddenly pulsing from behind me and I get the vague sense that the other Elementals have gotten control of the situation as Eyre slowly begins to lower from the air. Her eyes stay closed, but the rest of her body relaxes as the black thing comes into sharper focus.

The glow of her skin dies and the weird black webbing around her eyes recedes. She looks like a normal teen now - with what looks like a black tattoo around her neck like a collar. By the time her body is completely flat on the ground in front of me, the mark starts to fade. But she doesn’t stir, the only sign the girl is a live is the insanely slow rise and fall of her chest-

And then I loose my hold on the strings and feel my own power backfire, slamming over me and dousing my vision in a blanket of black.